Tad D. Fallon
Tad D. Fallon was raised in the antiques business in upstate New York and worked within the family business, Copake Auctions Inc., before college. Mr. Fallon entered the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Restoration program in New York City and studied furniture restoration. After graduation from FIT with a BFA in 1993, he was employed by Sotheby’s Restoration, where he was a supervisor in the Polishing Department. In 1995, Mr. Fallon left Sotheby’s to pursue courses in chemistry, a prerequisite for conservation graduate training, while simultaneously opening a private restoration company, Tad D. Fallon Antique Restorations, in Copake, New York. In 1996, Mr. Fallon was accepted to the Smithsonian Institution’s four year Furniture Conservation Training Program. After completing training at the Smithsonian, Mr. Fallon served a year-long graduate internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation. Mr. Fallon holds a certificate of completion from the Smithsonian Institution and an MA in Conservation from Antioch University, in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
In 2000, Mr. Fallon joined Smithsonian classmate Randy Wilkinson to open the private conservation practice Fallon & Wilkinson, LLC. Mr. Fallon frequently lectures and writes about conservation.
He was a participant in the 2001 “Furniture in France” study tour, sponsored by the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC), and is an active member of the AIC Wooden Artifacts Group.
Randy S. Wilkinson
Mr. Wilkinson was born and raised in Baltic, Connecticut. He attended the University of New Haven and received a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1988. After college, he gave up engineering and decided to follow a dream by opening a business building 18th and 19th century reproduction furniture. During his first years in business, he was often asked to repair antiques. Seeing the need to learn more about furniture restoration, he was accepted in the Smithsonian Institution’s Furniture Conservation Training Program in 1996. He spent four years in training, receiving his MA from Antioch University, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He completed internships at the Preservation Society of Newport County, in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Mystic Seaport Museum, in Mystic, Connecticut.
Now, Mr. Wilkinson’s work is represented in museums and private collections throughout the country. He blends his love for building outstanding examples of America’s best furniture with conserving some of our national treasures. In 2000, Mr. Wilkinson joined forces with Smithsonian classmate Tad D. Fallon and opened the private conservation practice Fallon & Wilkinson, LLC. Mr. Wilkinson frequently lectures and writes about conservation and woodworking.
He is a member of the Wooden Artifacts Group of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), and participated in the 2001 “Furniture in France” study tour. For the two-year period of 2005-2006, he was the Wooden Artifacts Group Chair. He is a Professional Associate with the AIC.